


Seeing Each Other

by Masterofkarate (orphan_account)



Category: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Genre: M/M, a brief description on how sex confuses charlie, charlie's kinda gay and kinda confused about it, how they decided they were boyfriends, i don't think there's anything to tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2018-10-28
Packaged: 2019-08-08 20:25:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16436201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Masterofkarate
Summary: Charlie wasn't exactly sure if they were seeing each other or what that even meant. Well of course, they did physically see each other a lot. Charlie hung out at the scientist’s apartment at least two nights a week, he slept over sometimes too. They went out for lunch a lot, they'd meet in North Philly near the school the scientist taught at before Charlie had to be at the bar. They sometimes saw movies together, or went grocery shopping, or just walked around and talked. They talked a lot.As for the other type of seeing, Charlie was still unsure. They held hands when they went on walks sometimes. When Charlie slept over, they always shared a bed and usually cuddled, but they never banged. They did, however, kiss sometimes.





	Seeing Each Other

Charlie wasn't exactly sure if they were seeing each other or what that even meant. Well of course, they did physically see each other a lot. Charlie hung out at the scientist’s apartment at least two nights a week, he slept over sometimes too. They went out for lunch a lot, they'd meet in North Philly near the school the scientist taught at before Charlie had to be at the bar. They sometimes saw movies together, or went grocery shopping, or just walked around and talked. They talked a lot.

As for the other type of seeing, Charlie was still unsure. They held hands when they went on walks sometimes. When Charlie slept over, they always shared a bed and usually cuddled, but they never banged. They did, however, kiss sometimes.

The first kiss was nice. Charlie was in a bad mood. The scientist didn't like when he got high or wasted and Charlie thought maybe he should try to do them both a little less. So, he called the scientist and asked him to meet him by the train tracks. They sat a safe distance away (a little farther than Charlie would have liked), and threw rocks at the train. The scientist didn't think it was weird, he did it along with Charlie. They held hands the whole time. The scientist didn't make Charlie tell him what was upsetting him. Charlie had almost forgotten he was upset when the scientist told Charlie he was proud of him. That made Charlie feel so warm inside, so cared about, so loved. Charlie  _ had  _ to share the feeling, so he leaned over and kissed him.

It was a quick kiss. It wasn't gross at all. The scientist wasn't mad, he didn't call Charlie gay. When they pulled away, the scientist actually had a dopey smile on his face. That sight made Charlie feel warm inside all over again, so he kissed the scientist again. Then, for a while, they just said nice things to each other and kissed until the sun started setting.

So, maybe they were seeing each other. Or maybe not. The scientist never asked Charlie to be his boyfriend, and Charlie never asked the scientist. He wasn't sure who was supposed to ask in this situation. Plus, Charlie wasn't really gay, although maybe he was a little gay for the scientist.

The gayness wasn't that big of a deal for Charlie. Mac was gay and that was cool with Charlie. Charlie just wasn’t sure if he was gay, although he wasn’t sure if he was straight, either. And honestly, he wasn’t sure if the scientist was gay. The scientist never really told him. Aren’t gay people supposed to tell you they’re gay? Mac does all the time now that he came out.

Charlie wanted to ask the scientist about it. He had to. But he couldn’t. He tried, but he just couldn’t get the words out. Or the timing right. 

There was a time when they were walking through the park and saw another two guys holding hand and Charlie pointed (discreetly in Charlie’s opinion) and said  _ hey what do you think of that? _ One time, Charlie woke the scientist up in the middle of the night to tell him that Mac was gay to gauge his response, although the scientist already knew that. There was a time they were eating hot dogs from a street vendor and Charlie asked him some particularly suggestive questions that would have made anybody uncomfortable.

Then, one day, Charlie didn’t have to ask. Not at all.

They were lounging on the couch watching a movie. It was a movie the scientist picked out, they traded off who picked the movie every other time. At first their movie choices were extreme in differences, but over time they have found somewhat of a middle ground in their movie selection. Some fighting, but not entirely so. Not as many explosions as Charlie would have liked. Nothing in a foreign language. Comedies worked well for both of them, most of the time. Abstract and indie movies were hit or miss usually. 

Well, tonight was the scientist’s pick. Charlie wasn’t really paying attention. He downed most of their bowl of popcorn. When he was done, he put the bowl on the coffee table and pulled himself closer to his sort-of-not-quite boyfriend. The scientist easily wrapped his arm around Charlie’s waist and Charlie rested his head against the scientist’s chest.

Charlie’s eyes started to flutter shut comfortably. He let his hand fall on the scientist’s thigh. Charlie lifted his head up slightly, keeping his eyes closed, and started to kiss at the scientist’s jaw. Gentle, chaste kisses. It wasn’t too unusual for them. But then Charlie’s kisses began to wander down to the scientist’s neck. Up and down. Slow, soft.

The scientist cleared his throat and shifted his weight slightly away from Charlie, although keeping his arm around him. He looked down at Charlie and Charlie’s eyes fluttered open, brows drawn together, mouth open slightly, as if ready to ask a question.

“Hey Charlie,” he said quietly, “Can we… We should… Can we talk for a minute?”

“Yeah man, what’s up? Did I do something wrong?”

“No, nothing like that, darling.” The scientist leaned forward and paused the TV before looking back at Charlie. “I just, I think we should talk.”

“If I didn’t do anything wrong, then about what?” Charlie asked, pulling out of the scientist’s touch and scooting away on the couch, to make better eye contact. And because he was a little nervous about whatever this talk would encompass.

“It’s about, well,” the scientist looked around the room, as if the words he couldn’t find were written somewhere on the ceiling. He wasn’t often this hesitant, and that concerned Charlie. “Us, Charlie. We need to talk about us.”

“Oh, yeah,” Charlie answered, shoulders immediately dropping. This is where the other shoe drops. The scientist was done with him. It’s gone too far. The scientist isn’t even gay. Or he is gay, just not for Charlie. Or he was gay for Charlie but has finally realized how annoying and weird he is.

“Hey, hey, don’t fret too much,” the scientist said, offering him a small smile. “I just… I’m concerned with how far we take this before talking about it.”

Charlie smiled at the way the scientist said fret. Nobody else would use a word like fret, and Charlie loved that. Charlie didn’t know what to say, so he nodded quietly.

“For some time, we’ve been spending time together. The time we spend has gotten to be more and more. And we’ve crossed the lines from friendship intimacy to something with more, more, um, romantic connotations,” the scientist said, shifting in his seat, fiddling with his own hands. “I would just like to define where we stand, as friends, or as…”

“Oh, yeah,” Charlie perked up with a smile. “Yeah, I’ve been wondering the same thing, man. I mean, like I’m super confused. I don’t kiss any of my other friends, and like I share a bed with Frank, but it’s not the same as with you, and like… It definitely feels kind of gay. But not bad gay. Not that gay is bad, it’s just different. You know?”

The scientist smiled a little bit when Charlie finished his fast-paced tangent. He nodded and said, “Exactly, Charlie. I’m a bit confused too.” 

“So you’re not gay?” Charlie concluded, eyes wide with a new realization.

“No. What? Yes, I’m gay, Charlie,” the scientist answered, breaking out in a full out grin. He shook his head fondly and said, “Yes, Charlie, I’m gay. That’s not what I’m confused about. I’m sorry if I haven’t made that clear enough.”

“No, it’s cool,” Charlie said with a shrug. “You don’t gotta make it clear if you’re gay or not. That’s just the part I’m confused about.”

“Whether or not you’re gay?” the scientist asked, trying not to let his smile drop but trying to show he was taking this seriously, because he was.

“Yeah, kinda,” Charlie shrugged. “And no, more than that. I don’t know. I”m just confused, man.”

“Me too, darling, that’s why we need to talk about it,” the scientist said, reaching out to take one of Charlie’s hands in his own.

“Okay, yeah,” Charlie nodded. “So, am I gay?”

“I can’t quite answer that for you,” the scientist admitted, running his thumb along the scientist’s knuckles.

“But you’re so smart, you know way better than me,” Charlie said with a pout, exaggerated.

“But this is only something one can know about oneself,” the scientist answered.

“How am I supposed to know, dude?” Charlie asked with a sigh, shoulders rising and then dropping. He took in a deep breath as he thought before releasing his words, which came out fast, almost slurred together at points, “Like, I don’t know, dude. I never really liked sex with girls. I mean, sometimes it was cool. Like when I banged that whore in the mountains, that was cool. But like other than that, sex has been pretty shitty. I don’t even know if I’m doing it right, to be real. And like I never banged any guys, because like, nobody ever said I should bang any guys and I never met any guys that really wanted to bang me. And then you’re here, and like I don’t want to bang you, but I do think about it sometimes. I like you, dude, I like kissing you and holding your hand and other gay shit, but I like less gay shit too, like just talking to you or watching movies or eating dinner or whatever. I don’t know if I’m gay, but I think maybe a little gay for you.”

The scientist listened carefully, trying not to let his facial expression give away that he was struggling to follow Charlie’s train of thought. He took it in as much as he could. When Charlie stopped talking, the scientist stayed quiet for a few moments, nodding thoughtfully. 

The scientist’s thinking took too long for Charlie, so he asked, “So, what do you think?”

“I think that sexuality can be very complex and confusing and I think that the environment and the world we grow up in can affect how we feel about sex and sexuality,” the scientist said softly and thoughtfully. “I think there’s time to figure that out, but if you think you’re a… a  _ little gay for me _ , and I know that I’m gay and interested in you, well I think that’s something worth exploring.”

“Yeah, me too,” Charlie said with a bright smile. “Okay, yeah, so, who does what?”

“What do you mean?” the scientist asked with a laugh.

“You know, when we bang, when we officially become gay, when do we bang?” Charlie asked.

“Oh my god, Charlie!” the scientist said, throwing his head back with laughter. 

“What?” Charlie asked, smiling, but there was a whine in his voice. He didn’t understand why what he said was so hard to understand.

The scientist’s laughter was sputtering out and he finally responded properly, “I’m sorry, love. You’re just so blunt, and I love that about you, it just catches me off guard some days.”

“You still haven’t answered.” Charlie rolled his eyes.

“Oh, no, I guess not,” the scientist laughed. “Well, it’s not quite like that, Charlie. Just because, I mean if, I mean, it seems we have decided to become something more, we don’t have to rush straight to the bedroom. We can take things slow. We don’t have to change anything that we don’t want to, that we’re not quite ready to.”

“Really?” Charlie asked, perking his head up. “But if we’re going to be boyfriends, I thought boyfriends were supposed to bang.”

“Boyfriends can be intimate, of course,” the scientist laughed. “But it’s our timeline to make, we don’t have to do anything we’re not ready for.”

“Okay cool,” Charlie nodded in understanding. “So we’re boyfriends?”

“If you want to be,” the scientist answered.

“Yeah, I do,” Charlie agreed. He hummed and then asked, “So what next?”

“We can finish our movie?” the scientist suggested.

“Yeah,” Charlie shrugged, knowing he didn’t care much about the movie. “Can we like kiss during it or whatever?”

“You don’t like the movie?” 

“Not as much as kissing you.” 

“Let’s do that instead, then,” the scientist hummed. 

He reached forward and turned off the TV. He put his hand on Charlie’s cheek and leaned forward to kiss him. Their first kiss as boyfriends. Gay or not, Charlie thought it was pretty awesome.

**Author's Note:**

> haven't wrote a charlie/scientist story in a hot minute. feeling manic. it's 430 am. whatever. hope u enjoyed!
> 
> Dude I don't proofread usually, but I was scanning through this after getting a comment and in the paragraph outlining Charlie's failed attempts at figuring out if the scientist was gay, I wrote "Mac was dead" instead of "Mac was gay." This is the worst fic typo of all time. I'm so sorry Ronald McDonald, I would never ever ever kill u off. I was watching American Horror Story while writing this. 
> 
> Anyway RIP Ronald "Ronnie The Rat" "Mac" McDonald. I've killed u off. U will be missed.


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